Cure me, marimo
by Koorinohimesama
Summary: In the middle ages love between men is common yet is not well seen and the ones who step in this side they have to hide the truth to keep their status. An AU of Zoro and Sanji
1. Marimo falling from the sky

In the Middle Age there was a country know by a noble who lived all alone with his parents. That boy was named Sanji, a blonde hair boy who used to spend his time in cooking and reading. Sanji spent too much time alone and didn't talk much to many people. Only his parents, some butlers and maids, he kept himself away from all the women because of a certain reason. He was a complete gentleman since he was taught to be one, please women and be a good drinking partner but now that was all useless. He could not speak to them or go to parties of nobility. Even though he was at his marring age and his two older brothers were already married and had kids. So Sanji's parents wanted him to marry but there was something that did not let him do that. That reason was only known by the blonde boy.

It was one of those boring days that he used to spend in his room looking from the window and smoking. The city was pretty and full of people. If he only could go there and walk around like any other person. At that thought he sighed looking at the sky. His eyes were looking at a dead point, he wondered if there was going to be a day when he could be happy and live like a normal boy, find a lover, get married and have kids like his brothers. He put out the cigarette still looking at the sky but then he saw something falling from the sky to the jungle that belonged to Sanji's family.

"What was that? Some animal? Or... a person?!" The thought of that could be a person who is wounded and hungry and maybe a woman between othet things made him worry, that was because he was a caring person. He got dressed and put on a huge cloak to cover himself so no one would see him. He got some medicines and something to eat in case of that person was wounded. With that he rushed to the place where that someone fall. It was evening so it was pretty dangerous but Sanji did not care that. He had his sword so he could fight the animals or if that person was an enemy but he was much better doing a body fight.

It took him some time to get at the jungle and then he started to walk towards the place where he thought the other person fell. He tried to find around that place but he didn't find anyone. 'Maybe that person went to drink water' the blonde boy thought and went to the small waterfall where many animals used to go to get water. The horse he was riding did a great job to find the right place and so when Sanji was there he saw a green haired someone, he seemed foreign from how he was dressed up and he had swords? No, no, those were Japanese famous katana that he had read in many books. So that green haired boy was a samurai.

"He has some wounds. Mister? "He called the male as he got down the horse and approached the green haired boy but he did not receive any response. Now that he looked closely he had a scar on his chest. 'Wounds from battles?' Sanji thought as he kneeled and took out a cotton cloth to wipe the blood from his forehead but then the other male grabbed his hand and pinned him down thinking that he was an enemy. The cloak that was covering Sanji's face fell aside and let his face exposed. Sanji as that moment felt weak but he managed to push the other away from him "What the hell are you doing you marimo head?!" He sat and glared the other boy. The green haired boy didn't felt any danger coming from the othet boy even he had a sword with him so he decide to talk a bit with him.

"English...?" The marimo head said looking at him, he seemed to be a bit confused about all this but there was a frown on his face. "You who?" His English was pretty bad, after all he was from Japan and not all people had the opportunity to learn proper English. That boy was lucky to have been working as a bodyguard of a famous Japanese merchant who had many books so marimo head could learn some of it. He pointed himself and then looked at the blond boy " me Roronoa Zoro, Japan " he introduced himself since he felt that he did wrong of asking the other before introducing himself.

"Roro... roro? " there were many question marks on Sanji's head as he tried to pronounce his name again but failed. It was a foreign name after all. Zoro looked at the blonde boy and laughed at how he said his name, the accent was weird and he could not finish saying his name after all "Whatever.. My name is Sanji. S-A-N-J-I. San-ji" he explained well his name as he looked at the other boy hoping he would understand it if he told like that.

"Ou-jii? " in Japanese oujii meant old man so Zoro ended up laughing, he was making fun of the other boy for sure. But he then felt pain on his leg and groaned lightly "Sanji.. me Zo-Ro.. Ok?" In Japan it was rude to call someone who you just met but Roronoa knew that the other won't be able to say his name properly so he let it pass, for this time at least. He was here with the famous merchant but that greedy man tried to sell Zoro and he ended up escaping. He used a catapult to throw himself to the sky in order to escape from them and ended up falling in that jungle.

"Zo... ro? Zoro.. " he didn't know ho much of English the marimo head know so Sanji wondered how he could ask him things like how he ended up there or how he came there. But then he saw blood from his leg, the wound was more important than other stuff. He took out the medicine and some cotton clothes. "You ... hurt. Me cure Zoro, ok?" The green haired boy understood those words and so he nodded at the offer the other boy made to him. Sanji carefully folded up his pants and with a cotton cloth wet in water he wiped away the blood. He saw there was a scar above his anke. 'What kind of life did he had?' That question came into his mind, Sanji also thought how manly that boy was. Now he wanted to know how old Zoro was since he seemed to have the same age as the blonde boy.

Once Sanji finished treating Zoro's wound he looked up at him and then put away the dirty clothes of cotton. "You hungry? " he made gestures so the other could understand better what the blonde was saying to him. And somehow Zoro understood what he said, he showed him his hand with his fingers "no eat..." he was trying to tell the other that it had been five days since he ate. Zoro jad been escaping from the merchant for 5 days and he did not had any food or money to get some. Sanji's eyes wide opened when he got what the marimo head tired to say and so he pulled out the food he brought.

"Eat" the blond said handing him some bread, chees, ham. The green haired boy thanked in his language and started to eat. Zoro looked at the boy who was now smoking, 'such a good guy he is. By his clothes he seems to be from the nobility. Maybe this is his property ' and he kept thinking how to repay Sanji for saving his life and giving him food. Once he finished eating marimo head wiped his mouth with a cloth and then looked at him.

"Thank you... food Sanji " he bowed like a proper samurai to his saviour. Now he needs to leave that place but he cannot since the merchant must be looking for him in the city. "I stay here, ok?" There he goes again with his broken English, but the blond could understand him now for some reason. "Me they sell ... no.. nobility.. me no want it. Me Japan samurai, high pride " well the samurai had their pride and letting the others sell and buy them was something really low class. The family Roronoa protected the one who they thought were worth of Roronoa family. Zoro was forced to protect the merchant because of a fake debt. Marimo head was the only left from Roronoa family.

"Ok, but... stay here. Don't go no place ok Zoro?" He warned him, he didn't want him to go anywhere now. Marimo was the first male with who he talked like that. Kind of he was Sanji's first friend. "Now... I go home. Now you sleep " he made gestures as he said to him, he stood up and fined his cloak "morning I come back with food " he tried to explain as he could. He was probably going to learn Japanese when he go back so he can communicate better with him. He got on the horse and looked at the other male once again.

"Good night" Zoro said standing up and caressing the horse before Sanji nodded and then he left the place leaving Roronoa alone at that jungle. Probably that meeting seemed to be pure coincidence and perhaps it was.

To be continue...


	2. My secret friend

After Sanji returned to his castle he did some research about Japan and looked for books about it. There were not many of them but he could find few, one of them was a novel which was written in Japanese and had the English translation. 'This will help' the blond boy thought as he took all those books and locked himself in his room and did some studying. He had also asked one of his private butlers to gather all the information about the Japanese merchant. It took him many hours to read and learn a bit from the books. The butler came when Sanji was about to sleep and handed him all the information he got about the person that the blond mentioned. So after that he spent more time awake reading all that. Apparently that merchant was a slave supplier, he sold samurai, women, children to nobility and gained pretty much but that was kept in secret so the people he brought with him didn't suspect that he was going to sell them.

"What a bastard!" Sanji from long ago hated the human selling circle, poor or rich they were person and had their rights like any other people but the nobility and kings did not understood that fact. He hated that system but he wasn't enough powerful to do something about it, the third son was not something relevant he was just an extra in his family. He sighs at that thought and then resumed to the information about that merchant. There was a list of the last sold slaves and in them there was written that marimo head's name as well. "So they are after them since he escaped from being sold.." at that moment he felt the urge to protect Zoro from those people, he knew that the samurai was a good person who would not hurt without a reason, and about what he read in one of the books, for samurai someone who gives them food, they would protect them with their life. After that Sanji dedicated to learn a bit of Japanese so he could communicate with Zoro a bit better. At some point of reading he fell asleep till the next morning when a maid knocked the door to wake him up.

"... mm... morning already? " he sat back on the chair and rubbed his eyes, it was pretty bright and noisy. It was probably midday already and the blond had been sleeping all that time. "Shit! I told Zoro I will come tomorrow. " all rushed he packs the books in a pure skin made bag and goes to wash himself and get dressed up. For some reason he decided to wear his nicest clothes and grabbed some clothes for Roronoa as well since his clothes were half ripped and dirty but he didn't know if his size was going to fit the other boy or not. Anyways he took all that and went to the kitchen and grabbed some food and wine bottles. The cocks asked him why all that food and he told that he was going to the jungle since he wanted to be alone and do some horse riding. With that he left that place along with his horse. He was in his way to the jungle when he found some guys seeking for someone. Probably they were behind Zoro but since he was in a private place they could not reach him. He went in the jungle heading towards the small waterfall where probably Zoro was waiting for him since he had told him to wait there the night before. It didn't take him much time but when he got there marimo head was not there.

"Where did that idiot go?" He looked around trying to find him but nothing. He got down from the horse and placed all things he brought for him on the grass. "Oooooi! Zoooroooo! Where the hell are you?!"he tried to call him but then he was not there which made the blonde get impatient and worried 'maybe he went out and they caught him.' 'No, no, no, they were still searching for him when I came here.. he must be somewhere here' he lit up a cigarette and puffed smoke. He walks a bit to see if he was any near by, and after some time he found him sleeping under a tree. The put out the cigarette and punched Zoro on the head "Get up you marimo head!" And of course Zoro woke up from the punch rubbing his head. He looked annoyed and pretty angry "What the hell are you doing, you bastard" like he had that good English, of course he spoke in Japanese all angry. They started to fight, but after some time marimo head's stomach made sounds since he was hungry as hell. "I brought food for you" Sanji said as he lit up another cigarette.

"Curly..? " Zoro said looking at the blonde boy who got few tic marks on his forehead and was about to punch him again but held back since the other was injured. The marimo head got up and followed the other since he had already started to walk back to the waterfall. To tell the truth Zoro had bad sense of orientation so he got lost easily even if the way he was walking to was straight. Once they got to the waterfall Sanji threw the clothes at the green haired boy and told him to get changed but then they got into a fight since marimo head hated to be ordered around. While fighting they fell into the water and that was how they stopped fighting. "Damn I am soaked." Zoro spoke in Japanese as the blonde haired boy got out of the water and started to take off his clothes dince hey were all wet and if he stayed like that he would probably catch a cold. Zoro grabs those soft and girly clothes that Sanji brought for him. Once he was all naked the blonde haired looked at him and for some reason blushed. Zoro's body was all toned, there were scars and it looked so manly, and there was a loincloth... 'what the heck is that?' Sanji thought since he never saw someone wear it actually so it was shocking."Oi, curly. How.. wear this shit?" He threw the clothes on his face and waited to him to help with them.

Sanji got angry but he needs to control his anger or they would be fighting all the time and he won't be able to help the other in anything. The blond tells the other to stay still while he puts the clothes on him carefully. They were too adjusted for Zoro but damn they looked really good on him, well Sanji would make a kimono for him if could do one since it was the first time he saw one and did not know much about the way to make one. "Give me your kimono " he said holding out his hand so the other would put the kimono and the hakama on it. He was planning to analyse those clothes so he could make him some new ones. Zoro put his clothes stained with blood on his hand as he then sat down and started to seek food in the bag that the blonde haired boy had brought. After eating and not saying much since communication was pretty difficult for them even though there were many things that Sanji wanted to ask the green haired boy. He wonders if he asked about his age the other would understandit or not. The blond decided to give a try since for the first time he wanted to know about someone this badly. "H... how old are you?" He said while folding the kimono and hakama and putting it in the bag waiting for an answer bt he didn't receive any.

"Eyebrows... look " he pointed the ground. Sanji gor angry at the way the other male called him but then he was surprised what was drawn on the ground there was a '21' written there. The blond could not believe that the other boy was of the same age as him, it seemed that Zoro could not say the numbers so he write them. Sanji decided to try something, and so he took his own sword and wrote on the ground as well 'what about your family? ' he wrote in English. At what marimo head wrote as well, it took him a bit but he could write. It seemed that his written English was better than the spoken one 'I am the only left. All died in war' Sanji was pretty shocked, he felt sorry for Zoro, they had the same age but they were opposite poles. But then Zoro was the one who wrote 'how is outside? Are they after me?' Sanji nodded telling him that they were still looking for him. The situation wasn't good for Zoro to go out so the blond told him to stay there till th8ngs were calmed down so the green haired boy could go out like usual.

And like that days kept passing, Sanji would come there everyday bringing food, wine and clothes for marimo head. They talked more and got to know each other a bit better, Zoro was able to speak better English and Sanji had learned Japanese. The merchant had already left the counrty and went back to Japan. There was no danger and Zoro sometimes went out with the blond. The samurai showed the other how he used the three swords at once since the young noble was curious about it. They usually fought a lot but even all those fights,a strong bond was created between them. They became really close and Sanji had completely forgot about that he couldn't get near to any person a grow a strong bond, the consequences of it were not going to be any nice but the time that Sanji spent with Zoro flew fast. Maybe they both wished that the time stopped for them so they could be together more often. But that was not happening, the time flowed and 3 months passed since they first met.

Thank you for reading! Hope you liked it see you in the next chapter!


	3. Revealing The Truth

The days kept passing and it was almost the end of the Spring, around that time there were many celebrations since there were many birthdays and anniversaries and it was also the time that Sanji spent time alone in his room not going to any of the parties that were held. The blond wondered if there was a way to cure his problem but till then no one had told him about it or anything else. A night before his brother's birthday, he was tored from all the fighting that he had with Zoro and once home he fell on his bed and fell asleep pretty fast. It was then when he started to sweat and move on the bed, again that nightmare that he hated so much but it was different than usual. The things that he saw in it made him start to get worried about his relationship with the green haired boy, they were pretty close to each other. Sanji had told him things and secrets that he never told anyone but then he never heard anything from Zoro, like about his life or other things like what was his life at Japan and stuff like that. Putting that aside the blonde decided to start taking distance from the samurai to prevent all that disaster what would happen if he kept near the green haired boy.

Sanji managed to make Zoro get in the army of the country so he would have a stable work and could live on his own, but then Zoro was in debt with the blond for saving him so he needed to pay for that but could not find how to do that. It was pretty difficult since Sanji had everything, family, money, castle. There was nothing that he was lacking in, the marimo head wondered is he ever could return the favour that the other did for him. He was now in the army which wasn't half bad, he had a small house where he lived and gained money, he didn't had to rely on Sanji for food and clothes anymore which was something good or else he was going to have many favours to return to the blond. He noticed that lately the young noble was not coming often to see him 'maybe is because of the birthday party of his brother ' he thought that. Of course he knew about it since the army was invited to the party as protection in case of any bad thing happened. That was army's job protect the nobles, and the rich people only or those who could afford to pay them but the plebeian could not do that so usually the nobles were the ones. It was the day of the celebration and Zoro was getting ready so he could go to the castle hoping to see Sanji there since there were things that he wanted to ask him.

Once the party started there were too many people and the samurai could not find the blond anywhere which made him worry. 'In the kitchen maybe' thinking that he went to the kitchen, he knew that the other loved to cook so probably he was there but once he was in the kitchen he saw many middle aged women and men cooking and maids taking the food to the hall. Sanji was not there, with a sigh Zoro wanders around the castle seeking him but he then got lost. As expected of him, it was impossible for him to not to get lost plus that castle was pretty big. He cursed as he looked around the rooms. He kept doing that till he opened a door and found the blond smoking while looking out the window while wearing only pants. "Why you are not at the party?" He suddenly said to catch his attention since he did not notice that the other was in the room. His eyes turned to him and for a moment he looked at him. He had tears in his eyes, both eyes were visible since his hair was pulled back. Sanji's usual hidden eye had a strange purple color. " what is with that color?" He pointed his eye which Sanji immediately hid it with his hair bangs.

"N-nothing. I born with that color. Anyway why are you here? I bet you got lost" The blond laughed but it was a fake one, he was trying to change the topic of the conversation since he didn't wanted to tell the other boy about the truth behind his purple eye which was actually quite uncomfortable for the blond. He wonders if the other believed his lie about that he born with that eye color but of course Zoro did not believe it, he knew it was something that made uncomfortable the other boy but Zoro wanted to know about it. The samurai would not push Sanji to tell him the truth, even he wanted to know about it no matter what. The samurai was an understanding person so he would not force the other. He walked near and closed the door behind him so no one will bother them in their talk if the blond was going to tell the truth behind his eye. "It was when I was born." Sanji puffed smoke and kept ot for some time before letting it go, he was now looking at a dead point and trying to find the right words. "My mother was not the same as my two older brothers. She was from a wizard clan and my father fell for her and they had a kid. Me" he puts out the cigarette and lights another one as he puffs smoke letting it go after few seconds. Sanji walks to the samurai and looks at him. "I bet you are thinking what does all this have to do with my eye. The family of my mother did not accept that a wizard married a human so they put a curse on me and killed my mother who broke the law of not loving humans." The young noble let out a long and tired sigh as he falls on the bed looking the ceiling.

"That curse is that purple eye of yours? " the green haired boy asked as he looks at ths blond who was now laying on the bed. Sanji nods and then puffs some smoke and then lets it go, he wonders if after telling the marimo head what the curse was he would leave him or it is too late and the tragedy will happen. Whichever was painful for the blonde haired boy since it was the first time he got this much interested in someone and also grow those impure feelings, they were impure because the elder persons said that those feelings for someone of the same gender were impure. "The curse is... whenever I start to care of someone that person will die. It happened few times already so I keep away from other people. But then you came in my life and made me forget about my hex, and until few days ago I wasn't aware of it. But now that I remembered it I want to keep away from you... I... I don't want you to die Zoro.. " tears fell from his eyes as he said that. The samurai suddenly moved to him and ended up kissing his lips but it did not last long. He pulled back and looked away. There was a visible blush on Sanji's cheeks and Zoro was sweating since he didn't understandthe reason why he kisses him "W-what was just now? " the young noble asked putting the baack of his hand on his lips. The samurai didn't know what to say so he was a bit confused. "I... I saw a man doing this to a woman who was crying and she stopped crying so... " he tried to make an excuse to hide what he just did "Idiot! That works only if two people love each other! ! And between man and woman!" Now he was more red than before and standing glaring at the marimo head "You are not crying anymore! And man or woman, it doesn't matter!" And they had a fight for some time there discussing over the kiss.

They ended up ripping off each other's clothes while fighting. Once they ended the fight Sanji light up a cigarette and Zoro fined his hair "There should be a way to dissappear your curse. I will find it and cure you. That is my promise " Zoro said looking at the blonde haired boy "there is no need for that I am fine this way." He puffed smoke and let it go "I don't want it. I want to you to live like any other person" the green haired boy got up and looked seriously at the young noble " It is a man's word, I will definitely make dissappear this curse." Those words were that strong that Sanji wanted to truly believe them and so he did that. Even the hope was little he wanted have that small light and follow it. He would help the samurai searching information about it since before he never thought that it was possible to uncurse him. Now Sanji was smiling and Zoro smiled as he looked at the other boy.

Thank you for reading! See you soon on the next chapter!

PS: Forgive the typos ~


	4. The only way

After that day, the samurai seeked all about the curses and related information but there was nothing that he could discover about the hex of the young noble. Zoro had been reading many books and asking people but not giving them his identity, he could not find any reliable information. It seemed that talking or asking about wizards and witches was tabu at that country, it was then when Zoro understood why Sanji had been keeping it as a secret from everyone. He was going to be judged because of that curse. The marimo head was now aware of the pain with which the young noble had been living, now the samurai respected the blonde haired boy more than before for keeping alive even it was that painful. Once again Zoro waked out from an old library since he had failed to get information, the man there refused to talk about it even though Zoro said that he would kill him if he did not answer but the shopman preferred to die than telling the information.

With a sigh the samurai covered from facr to feet in a long black cloak walked to the place where he supposed to meet Sanji so they could talk about the information gained but since the marimo head did not find any he felt useless. Once at the place which was an old garden that almost seemed a small jungle, the green haired boy got there first or that seemed so since the other wasn't there and of course Zoro got lost many times in his way to that place. Taking off the cloak he sat there waiting for the blond but then he fell asleep there, he had not been resting well the past few weeks due to the hint hunting.

"Oi, wake up marimo" Sanji kicked the sleeping boy so he would wake up and Zoro did wake up yawning and looking at the annoyed face of the other boy. He sat up and looked around and then at the blond boy "what you want shitty cook? " the samurai grabbed his swords and placed them in the small haramaki he was using even he was using western clothes. "I brought you food, shut up and eat. " he placed all the food and booze he had brought on a cloth he placed before the youn noble woke up the other boy. "How is the research going?"the blond haired asked while he light up a cigarette and puffed some smoke letting it go after some. Zoro had started to eat since he haven't been eating finely in those weeks, he spent the money in books and paying people to give him even a small piece of info they had but it wasn't enough still. "Nothing, it seems that is tabu to speak about this." He finished a whole bottle of wine and grabbed another one and drank it. The young noble finished the cigarette and light up another one, he knew that it was not going to be easy to find about it. "There is something I discovered in my family register. I told you before that my mother is not the same as my older two brothers and that she died while giving me birth, but no one told me about her and who she was." The samurai opened another bottle and drank it while listening to what the other boy was saying.

"In the the family register there was the full name of her, when I searched about her last name I discovered something that shocked me. " he finished the cigarette and then looked at the sky " she was from the famous Gwydion family " lighting up another cigarette he puffed smoke and then let it go. The samurai wonders what is so special about that family since he read that name in one of the books ge read to seek information " And who are this Gwydion family?" The samurai was curious about them since there seemed to be a connection between the curse and that family Sanji had just mentioned "I read that they are the only wizard family alive here. The others were killed by the king and queen long ago, but just that one managed to escape from it" the young noble explained with a long sigh. That made sense and there were more questions than before. Why the curse was placed? Who placed it? Why did a wizard married a noble? Love?What did actually happen? And like that more questions came up but there was just one way to discover that. By finding the Gwydion family.

"I will search for that family. You just try to find more info in your castle. We will meet in three weeks here" Zoro stood and then put on the cloak, the blond stood up as well and looked at the green haired boy who before putting the cloak over his face grabbed Sanji by the collar and pulled him to a kiss. The young noble was not surprised by ot since he knew that the other boy usually kissed him all of sudden and when he less expected it. The kiss did not last much time but it was enough for that moment, lately they did not have time to be together but there was an important issue between. Once the samurai left Sanji sat again and light up another cigarette while looking at the sky. "In love... and with a guy.. " he said to himself as he laughed a bit, he had finally found the love of his life and it was a shitty foreign samurai who was a guy. They fought a lot and they called each other with names, he drank too much but was a caring guy, Sanji noticed that when the other promised to find a way to remove the curse even it was impossible. Then the blond wondered if there was actually any way to remove that damn curse and live like any other human being.

And like that the days passed and the samurai went to other village to get information since no people wanted to talk about the Gwydion family where Zoro was living. The thing that bothered Zoro the most was the fact that Sanji's mother was a wizard who died while giving birth, it was to strange. How could a wizard who were more strong than usual humans die during a birth. It did not make sense for the samurai and he wanted to know the truth for the sake of his beloved one. The green haired boy accepted that he had feelings for his saviour, he could not tell if it was love or not but he cared of Sanji more than himself and that feeling was not just loyalty towards the person who saved his live and Zoro knew that better than anyone. He would do anything to save the young noble even if it meant giving up his own life. That strong were the feelings that the samurai had. He went to may villages and cities but did not got any relevant hint of where could that Gwydion family could be.

"Sir, do you know any information about this Gwydion family?" Zoro asked to a medical store owner who looked pretty shady and had weird blue eyes. The guy glared at the samurai who was frozen for few seconds "Why you want to know about our family? " Zoro could not be more surprised at that revelation, he was thankful to could meet a member of the family. He took of the cloak from his face and looked at the man standing in front of him "there is a certain curse on a person, I want to know the way to remove it" there was a smirk on his face as he looked around the store which was pretty suspicious "come with me" the man lead him to the basement of the shop which connected the basement of the castle where that family lived. Zoro was prepared of they attacked but they did not do something like that and he was carefully lead to the head of that family in his room. The trip was long, pretty long.

Once there Zoro was forced to explain everything about the victim of the curse in exchange of telling him the way to remove the curse. As the explanation started the head of the family looked furious at the green haired boy who noticed the changing expression of that old man. The samurai made sure to tell everything he knew so it would be an equal exchange and as promised the great wizard even he was not pleased with it he did tell Zoro the way to remove that hex. The explanation was long and there were many parts that the green haired boy did not understand but he did get the main and important part "but.. that Sanji boy should not be aware of this, if you tell him the spell won't work. Bring him here as soon as possible " the old wizard said and left the room. Zoro was prepared for it, he did told himself that even he had to give his life he would cure Sanji and he was going to fulfil his promise no matter what.

 _ **Thank you to all the people who are read this fic! I hope you liked the chapter. see you soon!**_

 _ **PS: forgive the mistakes and typos ~**_


	5. Hidden Story

After that the samurai went back to the city from where he came. In his way he kept thinking over and over about the words that the great wizard of Gwydion family and the whole relationship that they had with Sanji's family. Of course the elder Gwydion did not tell about the real reason why that curse was placed on the young noble. There were many things that were unclear and the explanation that the wizard gave him was a bit strange, there were few things that were out of place. First of all why Sanji had to be unaware of the hex removing, Zoro thought that there was a hidden reason for that. Why they cursed Sanji in the first place with such a stupid hex? There were many other powerful curses that could be placed but why that one? The person he falls in love will die, that was absurd but at the same time it was much worse than any other curse. The one you most love will die because of a hex placed, that was painful and unbearable. Also did that curse affected to the love that he had for his family? If that was the case then Sanji actually never loved and cared much about his family. He lived the whole life alone. During the whole journey back to Sanji's place he kept thinking over and over about the real reason but he could not find a clear answer. Zoro was an outsider and he did not know much about the history of that Kingdom, the wars they had or the wizards. In Japan the wizards were like doctors and they were part of the nobility, they played a big role in the government. They were people needed by the king. But the samurai noticed when he asked people about wizards that they were treated differently here, they were like strange creatures and many people called them extraterrestres. Existences that should be removed because they were not good people. How cruel was that.

It took him the same amount of time to go back, the day of meeting with Sanji wasn't yet so he decided to sneak in the castle at night time also since he was part of the army it wasn't difficult for him. Once he managed to enter the castle he made sure no one saw him going to Sanji's room, he didn't knock and went in directly knowing that the blonde would be alone in his room as usual but to his surprise the young noble was not in the room. The samurai decided to wait for him, he walked to the desk and looked at the books on it. There was also a small painting on it, it was a portrait of a blond haired woman who looked like Sanji. Zoro then reminded that he saw a similar woman portrait at the mansion of Gwydion family. "Is his mother? " he said to himself while looking closer to the woman. She was a true beauty, Zoro admitted. He was really focused on the portrait that he didn't noticed that there was someone standing behind him. "Yes, she is" a male voice said, the samurai turned around and saw Sanji standing there. "You are rude to come in without knocking the door marimo" the young noble said puffing some smoke as he walked to close the door and then went to the window. There was a silence between them for some minutes, both had searched for things and they needed to tell each other about things. "Anything you found? " the green haired boy asked first as he leaned against the desk and looked a the other boy who was smoking. Sanji sighs and then looks at the samurai "nothing much. Aside from what I told you and the family register there is nothing else related to my mother." The blonde sighs again in disappointment since he hoped that there would be more information but there wasn't any. He wondered why his father did not keep anything else about his mother, usually in the noble families every member who died had a full life biography but this seemed to be a special case.

The silence once more dominated the atmosphere and it remained for long till the blonde boy light up another cigarette and decided to ask about the information Zoro gathered "what about you? Did you find anything? " he said not hoping much from the other since it seemed that finding information about Gwydion family was something really almost impossible to achieve. "I met someone who happens to know about this. You will have to come along with me if you want to know about your mother " Zoro tried his best to keep the secret and he did a great job hiding it. He glanced at the young noble who had his eyes wide open and looked pretty surprised to know that. He never expected that there was going to be anyone who know about it and even know they would not say it since it was a taboo. "Do you want to go there?" Zoro asked to an obvious question, he know that Sanji wanted to know about his mother, who was she? And what connection did she had with a wizard family, and why they placed that hex on him and who did that. The young noble just nodded without saying a single word as he puffed more smoke and let it go through his nose and there was a silence for an hour. After that time they decided that tomorrow they would start their journey to the place where Zoro found the person who knew about the Gwydion family. They would meet at the private garden and from there they will start the trip. It would probably take time and Sanji needed to inform his father about it. It won't be much bother since he used to take journeys and since he was going to be accompanied by a guardian they would let him go. That day the blond could not sleep and spent the night thinking over and over about many things.

The next day after they checked everything for the journey, their trip began. Even though Zoro already went there the one who was leading was Sanji because if the Samurai took it probably they would get lost for sure. His sense of direction was really bad after all. They kept half of the time riding the horse amd the other half walking, and at night they took rests and ate. " I wonder what happened between humans and wizards to end up hating each other like this" he said reminding about her mother being killed due to marry a human the young noble suddenly said. The samurai looked at the young noble and then laid back on the grass thinking of those words that were just said. "I suppose that there was some kind of war between them and they ended hating each other. The people to who I asked about wizards, their reaction told me that they hated them to death. Or something like that." In difference to Sanji Zoro asked many people and could see the reactions and how they talked about it. Those words, thier eyes, their expression were full of hate. "That might be truth. Maybe that is why thre is not any biographical information about my mother." At those words the samurai just nodded and then kept looking at the sky.

A couple of days passed and soon they were arriving to their destination. Unlike the time that took Zoro to go to that village, this time it took the half amount of the time that the marimo head took. "You might have got lost in your way" the young noble mocked the samurai on his bad sense of direction. The green haired boy frowned and looked at him " I am just not familiar with this damn roads" he tried to defend but then the young noble was laughing at that poor excuse that the other made. Right now they were relaxed not knowing of what was awaiting them in the village they were going. Unconsciously Sanji wished that the time could stop there and they could be on a long journey forever not caring of anything else. That was too much of a dreamer, those were just dreams which were far as th moon was. Once they got to the village they seeked for food, both for themselves and the horses. " after we eat we will go to the person who knows about the family " Zoro mentioned as he stuffed his mouth with food, they were at a small restaurant. Sanji nodded as he eat as well, it was not good manner to speak while eating. "Is it far from here?" Once he finished his food the blond asked lighting up a cigarette and puffing smoke. Zoro put the empty booze bottle on the table and wiped his mouth "nah, is pretty near from here. We will be there after walking few minutes " they went to the shop that Zoro mentioned after they paid for the food. And as the green haired boy said it was not that far from the place where they ate.

"Oi old man! Are you there? " Zoro asked as they walked in. The place was pretty cold that gave goosebumps to Sanji who stood there looking at that strang shop. Soon a man came walking towards them, those blue eyes left the young noble frozen for seconds just like it happened to Zoro when he first came. "So you came back, katana boy" that man's voice echoes in the shop. "That boy is the one you told us last time?" He continued to examinate the blond who stayed still not saying a word. It seemed that the samurai already talked to them about him. "Yes, he is the one I told you about " they seemed to know each other well like they had long conversation before, the young noble noticed that. "Follow me" he took a candle and started to walk towards the basement, Zoro motioned Sanji to follow him and so both walked behind him. The trip was long and the place was dark, the only light was the candle that the man with blue eyes was holding. They finally arrived to a huge door which the blue eyed man opened after unlocking many locks. "We have arrived " he announced as he walked past the door. After they went through the huge basement they arrived to a huge room where an elder mas was sitting on an armchair.

"Take a seat young ones, and Jeremy leave" that man's voice was deep, the man called Jeremy left closing the door behind himself. The two boys walked to the elder man and took seats in front of him. "So you brought the Sanji boy you told me last time?" The blond blinked and looked at the green haired boy who was sitting next him. "Yes, now tell us the truth. What did happen between the wizards and the humans? " Zoro did not seem to be afraid of that man who was sitting in front of them. "First of all my name is Drake Gwydion. I am the current head of the only family of wizards that could survive " he paused for a bit and then looked with his cold silver eyes to the blond. "You look exactly like Jun... " Sanji looked at the older male and then reminded the portrait of his mother. They looked alike, he would not deny that "You are right.. " the young noble simply said.

"What I am about to tell you is a taboo and neither in the historical register nor in the books there is information about this. They have been hiding the truth all the time. Just to cover up the cruel things they have done to us the wizards" he said with a serious voice looking at them. "Hear and be surprised about how dirty and low is the human race, and just for power what they can do" leaving a heavy sigh he started to explain " there was a time when the wizards could live together with humans, they were treated like any other persons. Helping each other and being happy. But then one of the greatest wizard, my father, developed the simple medicinal magic into a powerful weapon to help in the wars and could fight along with the despreciable humans." He paused and took a sip of the wine he cleared his throat and continued to talk " by that time it was a huge help and the king was happy about it. Together we won many battles and the bond grew deeper or that was what we thought. " the elder man stopped again. "So things were peaceful between you before" the green haired boy commented but the other just kept in silence and listened to Drake. The whole story involved his life since he was half human half wizard after all. "Please continue " Sanji impatiently said, he was really serious at that moment.

"Soon the humans noticed that us, wizards, were gaining lots of power and we could be a threat to them sooner or later. And so thei tried to discover a way to steal all the magic we had and as they planned they discovered that way. Our magic came from a stone which was protected highly and only few wizards had chance to see it. One of them was my younger sister Jun." He finally Drake told the relarion he had with Sanji's mother which actually shocked him. "Then... you are my uncle... ? " at those words the wizard made an annoyed sound and thrn continued to explain. "One of the most rich noble families ' son tried to make fall in love the daughter of that great wizard, Jun and achieved his goal. The real reason behind it was the stone with the magical power. Once they destroyed it out magic would disappear. It was after she gave birth to her son with that noble when she stole the stone and took it to the Vinsmoke family and they destroyed it. Slowly our magic started to dissappear but our father could make to the castle of the Vinsmoke and put the hex with his last magic on Jun who was holding her child. She instantly died and the curse fell on the boy." Zoro suddenly stood up pretty angry " why the hell did you put that damn hex in the first place?!" He could not control his anger, he was aware of the cruelty that the humans showed to the wizards but there was no reason to put such a ridiculous curse on their own daughter.

"The purpose of that hex was to kill the Vinsmoke family. Jun loved that man and thay hex was just perfect. The most beloved one would die and it didn't matter if it was a lover, parents or siblings. " that made the green haired more angry. "Damn you..! Do you know how hard Sanji's life had been all this time?! How much he has been suffering? " but just then some guards came and pinned down Zoro and also Sanji. "What the hell...?! " the blond finally spoke "you were stupid to believe that I would let such a dishonour for the wizard clan to be alive. This is your end " the elder Gwydion said as he laughed. "Damn old man! You promised to remove his hex!" Zoro revealed what he planned to do "did you actually believe that giving your life would remove his curse. You are much stupider than I thought " Sanji looked with his eyes wide open at the green haired boy who looked away pretty angrily at his own stupidity. They were at their end there was nothing to do now.


	6. Guiding Light

Zoro regretted the decision he had made. The green haired boy thought that they would help him to take away the curse but then they had other thing in their mind. Frustrated, the samurai hit the ground with his head what caused a wound on Zoro's head and also broke the floor. Both of them were held by all those guardians on the ground and they could not move much and more after the green haired boy did that. They held them more firmly. Drake Gwydion rose his hand telling the guardians to take them to the underground prison. Meanwhile he talked with Jeremy about gathering all the family members since they were going to execute the dishonor of Gwydion family along with a foolish samurai. Now everything was over for them.

Both of them were locked in different prisons with their hands and feet cuffed, they also took away Zoro's three katana since that was the only weapon they hand with them. There was a silence between them after the guardians left the place and went to tell the head of the family to tell them that they had done their work properly. There was one of them who stayed outside the prison room to guard them. The blond kept looking at the samurai who was still bleeding from the wound on his forehead, probably Sanji wanted to ask him few things but just by looking at the expression that the green haired boy made, the young noble could tell how much Zoro regretted what had happened. The silence between them grew longer, probably those were their last moments together. Soon they were going to be executed in front of all those wizards.

"Oi marimo, stop making that shitty face and think of a way to escape from this place if you do not want us to die here" the young noble kicked with his both feet the cell of the grill to catch his attention before he said that.

Zoro looked up at him and wiped the blood with both of his hand since they were cuffed so he could look that stupid face of the blond. He regretted it but now he needed to find a way to get out of this place. His lips curled into a smirk "Shut up and look" said that he put his tied hands in front of him and the pulled them apart with all of his strength. The samurai was strong but Sanji never thought that he would be that strong to break iron cuffs like that. The broken chain along with the cuffs fell on the ground making a big noise which reached outside the prison room. He quickly punched the chain of the cuffs of his feet breaking it as well. The guardian rushed and opened the door meanwhile Zoro pulled the grills leaving them deformed so he could get out the prison. The guardian entered to see what had happened but all he received was a punch from the samurai on his face leaving him knocked out.

"You are really awfully strong, now hurry and unlock my cuffs before the other guardians come here. We need to escape even we do not know a shit about this place" the green haired boy walked to him after he grabbed the keys of his cuff from the guardian. He tried all of them till he got the right and set free Sanji's hand and feet and then he took off the cuffs which were still on Zoro's feet. The blond spotted the three katana of the samurai and went to get them "Here you go Mr. Samurai" he threw them to the green haired boy who caught them and hanged them on his right side.

"This is underground so we need to get to the basement to get out of here. But are you fine with this? Leaving this place without getting your hex removed?" the green haired boy wanted to make sure that the other boy would not regret his decision to go back to his home without his curse being removed.

"Even if there is a way to remove it they would not tell us how to do that. So there is no meaning staying here in an enemy's place anymore" the blond reached his pocket to get the cigarette box but then he reminded that the guardians stole it from him when they locked them here. "Instead of chatting here we should hurry and leave" the blond walked towards the door. There were stairs going up, those were the ones they used to bring them down to that prison. There was another way that lead to somewhere. "We are going this way marimo. Do not get lost in the way" after he made sure that Zoro was following him, the young noble started to run towards that unknown way.

They kept running in silence for few minutes but they did not arrive to any open place, all they saw was an unending aisle which was lit by some fire lamps at each side. Both of them did not stop and kept walking while they were wondering where they were going. Maybe the place that the hallway took them was full of enemies or maybe it took them to the basement which connected to that medical store's basement. They did not really know but all they did was keep running until Sanji stopped and so did Zoro, at the left side there was a some kind of door or that was what it looked like. There might be the exit, with that in mind the blond looked at the other boy telling him to prepare since there were also possibilities that there could be some enemy's room. The green haired boy nodded and then the young noble opened the door. No one was in there, it looked like a bed room since it had a wardrobe and a bed. There was also a desk with lots of books on it and then there was a portrait hanging from the front wall where two blond girls were painted. Once seemed to be around 15 years old and the other seemed to be 7 years old.

"Who are you? And how did you get to this room?" it was female voice that was coming from somewhere. Both male looked around to see if they could see any person but they did not saw anyone. If there was no one, where did that voice came from? They then spotted something, closet was kind of moving and so they approached to it and knocked the door "Go away from me! Leave me alone!" the voice almost sounded like the person who was speaking was crying.

"We would like to leave but we cannot find the way out. Lady will you tell us how we can get out of this place? We will not hurt you please believe me" Sanji spoke in a soft and gentle voice so the female would not doubt much and will come out from the closet. The woman who came out was a beautiful girl who had a long blonde hair and blue eyes. For a moment in the young noble's mind came the portrait of his own mother. That woman looked like his mother a lot. 'Maybe she is from my mother's family as well' he thought while the samurai kept in silence.

"Blond hair… and… blue eyes…" the girl said looking at Sanji, she seemed to be about to cry but she held back and then looked at the other boy reminding that she had seen him when he came to that mansion before. "My name is Lucia Gwydion. I am the younger sister of the head of this family, Drake. May I ask your names?" she was pretty different from what they had expected maybe when she heard who they were she might change like the head of that family did.

Sanji then understood the reason why she looked like his mother they were sisters after all. Before the blond could speak or introduce himself the green haired boy stepped ahead and spoke for him. "My name is Zoro, I am a samurai from Japan. He is Sanji Vinsmoke from the nobility of the neighbour city." After hearing that the girl could not believe that who was in front of her was no other than her sister's son. She stepped ahead and hugged him as tears fell from her eyes. She seemed to be so happy to see him, even though she was crying there was a smile on her lips. The young noble could not help but hug her back.

After some time she pulled back and looked at them "take a seat, we are going to have a long talk. There must be things you need to ask me, don't you?" she was right they had few things to ask her and the most important between them was about the curse placed on Sanji and if there was a way to remove it, and which was.

They sat on some chairs in the middle of the room and then they started to tell what had happened not leaving any detail behind. Once Zoro and Sanji told her that she told them her side of the story. The real story was not like Drake had told, it was true that the humans and wizards had a nonstop battle for long time but what the elder Gwydion told about Sanji's father using Jun to steal the magical stone was a lie. Jun loved Sanji's father and he loved her back, it was a mutual love but then there were stupid rules of a wizard not loving a human. Jun was the one who had decided to break the magical stone so the war would end but it made the opposite effect and in the end the wizards who survived developed extreme hate towards the humans who stole their magic and killed their families. The left ones decided to become part of the one unique family which was the Gwydion family. They kept blaming the humans over and over when the real culprit was someone from their own family.

"About the curse placed in Sanji's eye… there is a way to remove it but you have to give in exchange something with the same value. I will help you to get rid of this hex." Those words were relived both of them but something that had the same value? What could be that something?

 _ **I want to comment about the title of this chapter. Guiding Light, is a reference to the name of Sanji's mother in this fic, Jun, and also the name of her sister, Lucia. I used those names because both mean light.**_

 _ **Thank you very much for reading! Hope you liked the chapter even though it was short one. See you in the next one :D**_

 _ **PS: forgive the mistakes and typos ~**_


	7. The Escape

First of all, I AM DEEPLY SORRY FOR THE ONES WHO HAD BEEN FOLLOWING THIS STORY! I am really ashamed for not being able to post in a whole year. Many things happened, my laptop was broken and I was working while studying. However, I know this is not enough excuse. Hopefully you forgive me and if you are still wishing to follow my story I will be really happy but if not I understand that I am the one who has the whole fault. Thank you very much for everything, I will be updating monthly like before. Once again, I am really sorry.

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Indeed, they were relieved but what bothered both of them was what to give in exchange, it had to be something of the same value or else it will not work. The lady had explained them about the magic and how was she going to make the hex disappear now when the magic they had was really poor and not enough for remove such a powerful curse. The way she told them seemed to be something really impossible but there was something in her voice that made them believe in her words. The small talk with that woman was full of so many truths they were unaware of, there were still few things that the blond waned to ask her but it seemed that the guards had discovered their escape.

"You should leave as soon as possible, they can come here at any time and I do not wish you to be caught again. This time for sure they will kill you once they capture you. You better escape from the window and we will meet at the place I told you." Lucia tried to keep herself calm but as soon as they male were ready to leave when the door burst open.

At that, Zoro drew one of his swords and grabbed Lucia's arm pulling her towards him, he was going to pretend that he had her as a hostage so they could get out of there and the guards will not think that the blonde woman was helping them or something alike. Sanji was a bit surprised that the green haired boy could actually think and manage the situation in the best way. The guards stopped at the door while looking at the samurai who had one of the members of the family, they were hesitating in what to do next. They had to act fast or they would escape but then they would be risking the life of the youngest sister of Drake.

"If you value the life of this woman then you better drop your weapons" the usual smirk, that way of looking to an enemy and the way he hold the sword near her neck was clear that he would not hesitate in cutting her neck off. The guards had no choice but to drop their swords, they were frustrated that they could do anything but stand there watching them escape. "Oi, shitty eyebrows. Leave first I will come later. Don't get lost" the green haired by did not even bother to look at the young noble when he talked to him.

"Shut up, marimo. Do not compare me with yourself, unlike you I have a good sense of direction." He smiled and then looked at the woman and gave her an unnoticeable nod before he jumped out of the window and escaped.

Once the blond left, Zoro pushed the woman to the bed and made sure she will not hit something and hurt herself, after all, it was someone important for Sanji and the samurai will not hurt something that was important for him. He had to fight with those guardians in order to get rid of them and then catch up with the young noble. Some of the blood of the guards were splashed on his clothes but he did not care about it. Jumping from the window the green haired boy tried to catch up and thanks to the footprints that the blond had left was much easier for him. After a while he saw the figure of a man standing under a tree while smoking, immediately he knew who that person was. Zoro walked calmly towards him, now they could not go back to the village to get their horses back because probably they were seeking them there.

"What you will do from now?" the green haired boy sat down and leaned against the tree. He took out his sword and cleaned it since it had drops of blood on it.

"I do not really know. We need to go to that lake called Gleich to could remove the hex but lady Lucia told us how well guarded that place is since is the only source of magic they have. Gleich, in other words equal. In order to gain magic they have to offer something of the same value, that is how that lake works." The blond puffed smoke and then let it go, he was a bit confused since he did not know what to give in exchange of it.

"At least there is a way to remove it, and you will be able to live a normal life like any person. First of all we need to get horses so we can go to that place, also we will need food and water because the journey will be long." The samurai put back the sword and then looked at the sky, it was almost night, small shades of orange/red were still visible.

"Once it gets all dark we will go to the village to get food and our horses. There are less chances that they catch us but then they could be thinking the same and appear at night." Of course he had thought about that since the wizards did not seem to be some kind of dumb people.

"Whatever, let's go and if they get in our way I will kill them" the maniac smirk as he put back one of the swords back to his belt. Both of them got up and then made their way towards the village.

It seemed that the wizards had already been there because their horses were not there, probably they knew that the two male would come back to get them so they set the free or took them, and even it was possible that they killed them. In any case now they had to get food and water for the journey because they could not afford to buy animals. They went to a small shop and got the necessary, nothing out of the place and they did not spot any wizard by that time. Now all they had to do was leave the place as soon as possible so they will not get caught if those guys had decided to come.

"We will have to walk till that place" the blond let out a sigh, after all he was not used to walk. For the nobility there were horses or they had a wagon but never walked from a village to the other.

"Stop complaining and hurry up, they might appear from anywhere" the green haired had noticed a presence of someone following them since they got out of the small shop.

Soon what the samurai had predicted happened, now they were surrounded by guards and had nowhere to escape. Zoro's hands went directly to his swords and was ready to fight, after all he could take care of 10 small fries. They were not a problem, now the green haired boy had to make sure that Sanji escaped from there and went to that lake. He would catch up once he got rid of those people. The green haired boy got near to the other and told him something in his ear at what Sanji nodded and stood a step behind the samurai who seemed to be ready to attack the wizards in front of him and so it happened. The green haired boy dashed forwards and soon there were clashing swords but that did not last long, soon there was the sound of steel cutting flesh, blood streaming and screams.

"Now!" the voice of the samurai echoed in the village, the guards had fixed their eyes on him that they completely forgot about the blond who had followed Zoro and now that he gave the sign Sanji dashed to the opening that the green haired boy created by cutting down some of the guards. The blond did not look back and continued running forwards, he was against running away alone and leaving him alone there but he had no choice.

"I will make an opening and when I say you will escape" Zoro whispered so only the blond could hear him.

"I cannot do that! I cannot leave you here and run" he answered in a low voice but it was a bit more audible than the samurai's

"Are you stupid? We cannot afford them catching us here. I will stay and take care of them, you go ahead. I will catch you later." And that was the small whispery conversation that they had.

The guards tried to chase the young noble but then the green haired boy stopped them by slaying them one by one until only one was left who whistled and more of them came out and started fighting with Zoro. The samurai was strong there was no doubt of that and he was able to kill them, they were not enough strong after all.

On the other hand, the blond had gone pretty far from the village and he could not hear their voices anymore. There was no need to worry Zoro was in the army and he was strong, but even though Sanji was telling himself all those words he could not help but worry about him. Once he thought that they could not be able to chase him he slowed the pace of his steps also because when the samurai would not have to walk much till get to where the young noble was. Thinking of all that he light a cigarette and slowly smoked it.

Zoro's clothes were now stained with blood and he could not go like that to the lake where they supposed to meet. He let out a sigh and saw the pool of blood on the floor. Well it was not a pool because the blood had almost dried. After cleaning his swords he went to get clothes in a shop and then made his way to where Sanji went. After the samurai spent a couple of hours running he could not find the blond "I feel like I have been running in circles for a while…" he face palmed because that could mean only one thing… Zoro was lost again.

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Thank you very much for the people who read this fic since the begining. I am happy to reach the 7th chapter. It's all thanks to you and my friends who support me. Hopefully you like this chapter. See you in the next one! ^-^

PS: sorry the typos and mistakes.


	8. Cruel Hope

Sanji was still waiting for the samurai on the spot and two hours and half had already had passed which worried him. There were two alternatives, or those men had captured him, the probability was pretty low but it was a possibility, or he was lost. The chances were high for the second option since the blond knew about his shitty sense of directions. He let out a tired sigh and put away the cigarette walking back to where he supposed that Zoro could be. In any moment, the prince let his guard down, who knows those men from the Gwydion family could be still walking around there.

"That damn marimo, he had to get lost at times like this." Deep inside he wished that it was true that he was only lost and nothing bad had happened to him. Sanji knew that Zoro was really strong, he had seen him breaking those metallic cuffs with his brute strength. The younger Vinsmoke decided to walk along the way travelled to come to that spot, and as he had expected, in the midway he found the samurai running and coming back to the same place but from a different direction. "How stupid can he be?" the noble let out a tired sigh as he walked closer to him waving at him and Zoro immediately stopped running like crazy.

"Why are you back? I told you to wait for me there. I was on my way." After whipping the sweat formed on his forehead with the sleeve of his clothes, he looked all cool to the blond like nothing had happened.

"Shut up, you damn liar! I saw you running like a crazy bull and stopping at the same spot countless times! Tsk… that is why I cannot leave you alone, not even for few seconds. Almost three hours have passed since I left." Sanji lit a cigarette taking a long puff, the blond was angry but at the same time those kind of moments were really precious for him since he was living like any other human. The samurai was the one who gave him those kind of moments where he could feel alive and escape from the cruel reality and his hex, which caused only misfortune.

"Whatever, we need to hurry up and get to Gleich as soon as possible. I made few arrangements to distract the guards there but it will probably be very short time. We will have to knock them out meanwhile. Lead the way, cook." Those words really surprised the blond since he thought that the swordsman had been the whole time running and getting lost.

Sanji did not say anything or ask about the distraction since he knew that Zoro was a reliable man despite his weakness. As they ran towards the lake that was supposed to remove his hex, more sinister was the atmosphere and the trees were much taller than the usual ones at the beginning of the jungle-like place. Soon the light of the stars and moon did not pass through the crowns of the trees, which made difficult to run and not to get separated from each other. Suddenly something grabbed Zoro's hand making the boy stop immediately.

"T-that… If we hold each other, it will be more secure and we will not get separated. That is the only reason, do not get wrong ideas, it disgusts me to hold a man's hand." Sanji was really thankful that is was dark enough so they could not see each other's faces or else, the samurai would have seen the blushing face of the cook.

"Whatever, just speak before doing stupid things. I was about to chop your arm off thinking that it was an enemy." The swordsman sounded cool but there was a visible pink dust on his cheeks but luckily, no one could see him so it was a safe moment.

It somehow became awkward and both were getting nervous at the sudden nearness. That blunt act only made them remember that they had feelings for each other. They resumed their running after that little dreamy moment, and once again the young Vinsmoke wished for not to end this journey. At that moment he reminded that, before he met Zoro, his life was meaningless and every morning he just wished for the night to come and when it got dark, Sanji wished for the sun to rise again. It was an endless loop. Now the blond was with someone he loved, it was someone who cared for him and was prepared to do anything for the young noble. The time they spent together was really short but enough to trust each other more than anything.

After running for some time, there was visible a large lake surrendered by tall trees, the water in it was sparkling due to the moonlight. The closer they get more beautiful looked that scenery, small blue lights were floating around it, giving it a more magical appearance and as Lucia had said to them, it was strongly guarded. At first sight, there were around forty men in armour carrying swords, probably aside from them there were more hidden around.

"This is going to be tougher than I thought. There are too many guys and it is not possible for us two to win against them harmless." After saying that in a very low voice, the blond reminded the words of the swordsman before the headed towards the lake Gleich. Still holding hands, the noble pulled Zoro's hand waiting for an answer or any hint about the distraction he had mentioned early.

"Half an hour more and we will attack. Keep the trace of the time." The green haired boy whispered as they were hiding in some bushes nearby one of the groups of guards keeping themselves in silence so they won't find out someone else was there as well.

Some time had passed since those two had arrived there and none of the guards of the Gwydion family had noticed them for now, which was something positive since they could carry on with their plan. That luck of them did not last much since soon the guardians found them out due to some animal moving around and they did not have any other option but fight the. As Zoro thought, they were too many and probably it was going to be hard for them to defy all of them in a short amount of time. The blond drew his three swords and started slashing the enemies as they attacked them, on the other hand, Sanji used his kicks to knock them off. Both of them were guarding each other's backs while fighting. Few minutes passed with that flow until a huge noise was heard, it was similar to the explosion of a grenade.

"Now, Sanji!" The samurai shouted meaning that it was their chance since the attention of the guardians was concentrated on those lights exploding one after another on the sky. They were fireworks.

* * *

While getting new clothes, the green haired male heard few people talking about doing a firework show since soon was coming up a festival related to the fire so they did those kind of shows for few days consecutively to enjoy the beauty of the fire.

"At what time does that show start?" abruptly asked the Japanese to the villagers who were peaking about that. They seemed surprised that some outsider wanted to know about some popular festive since it was not accepted those kind of celebrations.

"It will start in three hours and half. What? Are you interested in it, young boy?" the eldest of those four persons smiled and spoke to the samurai not fearing the fact that he was holding three swords and his clothes were stained with blood.

"Yeah! I like this kind of things. I want to show them to someone I know." Zoro smiled purely, it was something that came naturally thinking of the young noble, back to the older man, trying to emit less fear to the others so he could get some more information and use it for his own good.

"It seems that you have someone special, young boy. I have decided! We will use the loudest and biggest fireworks today. Your passion has reminded me of myself when I fell in love with my wife!" That cheerful old man patted Zoro's shoulder while saying those words. Even though the samurai did not intent to manipulate anyone, it flowed in a good way and it was benefiting for his just-now-made-plan.

* * *

Just then, they took the chance that all the guardians were in the same spot and distracted by the fireworks to defy all of them with few strong hits. Few moments later, all of them were knocked off but the fireworks were still rising one after another, spreading beautifully on the sky with those colours.

"Gorgeous." Sanji admired them with a sincere and honest smile, and the swordsman contemplated the young Vinsmoke. After all, more than using it as a distraction, the green haired boy wanted to see that kind of expression on Sanji's face. The samurai just smiled looking at him but then their peaceful moment was interrupted by a female voice. "Miss Lucia!" The young noble rushed towards the woman who was standing near the lake and Zoro followed him as well.

"I am glad you two managed to arrive here safe and could defy those people or else I would not be able to come this near to Gleich. Now quickly, I will read the enchantment, once I finished you have to tell about the hex and offer something by throwing it in the lake. Gleich will tell you if it is equal or not." The blonde lady told them but it only made the young noble get all confused since he was not sure what to offer in exchange. Soon Lucia started to recite a spell in an unknown language to both of them.

The minutes kept passing and Sanji started to panic since he was still not able to figure the price he was going to pay for the removal of his curse. His mind was filled with lots of questions, it was so messed up that he could not think straight and was unable to notice the moment when the blonde woman ended reading the enchantment.

"Stay back, shitty cook." The samurai punched the blond man in the gut making him fall meters far from the lake. "I want to remove that guy's hex. I will pay with anything" after those words the Gleich started to shine more than before, it was starting to get activate. For few seconds the swordsman paused and looked at the young Vinsmoke.

"Don't you fucking dare to do something stupid you damn marimo!" Sanji was coughing due to the punch but he showed a furious expression to the other male. It was short the time they had been together, but the blond knew that the Japanese boy was able to do any recklessness. Actually, he had predicted that something alike was going to happen but before the young noble could prevent it, had already passed leaving him useless.

"I will offer my left eye for the exchange" Zoro drew his sword and pointed the tip of the blade on the said eye.

"DON'T YOU DARE TO DO IT! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU IF YOU CUT YOUR EYE!" Sanji raged angrily trying to get on his feet and stop the green haired boy, but…

"I don't need your forgiveness." Said that, he cut his left eye letting the blood of it fall into the lake. The young noble looked terrified just when Zoro cut his own eye to pay the price for his hex. He was wordless and tears were forming in his eyes, which soon began to fall one by one on the ground.

"Not enough." Came from the Gleich Lake, the samurai already had made his mind, he was going to give up anything for the sake of his most beloved one. At that point, there was nothing that could change his mind and Sanji knew that but even knowing the blond wanted to stop him from doing any more recklessness.

"IT IS ENOUGH! YOU DON'T HAVE TO LOSE MORE FOR MY SAKE! I AM FINE WITH THIS CURSE! ZORO!" Desperately he shouted to the green haired man trying to make him stop at any cost or Sanji was not going to be able to forgive himself for making the samurai give up his own eye.

* * *

THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO READ MY STORY! I hope you enjoyed it! As you might have noticed, it is reaching to its finale. Please look forward to the next update!  
PS: Forgive me if there are mistakes or typos.


	9. Our Wish

The samurai was about to cut his right arm, Sanji has tears bursting from his eyes and was screaming trying to stop the green haired boy. Suddenly the support guardians of the Gwydion family arrived at the other side of the lake, making both of them stop and stay in silence for few moments. The situation could not get any worse than it was already since both of them had injuries. The samurai rushed towards the blond, probably those people were going to aim their weapons at him, Zoro needed to protect him.

"Damn it! Why at times like this…" The swordsman said as he tried to assimilate the sudden sight lose and ran towards the young noble. There were strings of blood falling from the wound, he had to wipe them each time since it was bothersome. Finally, he reached to where Sanji was and stood in front of him, protecting him.

"You stupid! Why the heck… you did that?!" Expressed angrily the noble while coughing as he tried to stand up, the blow on his abdomen was still hurting him but it was not time for them to keep there and do nothing. They were in a pinch.

"Oi! It is not time for this. We need to get out from this!" By then, the guardians had reached near them and were preparing their weapons, getting ready to attack them. Zoro drew his swords towards them but still not sure how was he going to fight them being this unstable. Now he regretted cutting his eye, if he only knew that this was going to happen, probably he would never have done something like this.

"I know! However, I am angry with you for this. I will give you a good beating once we get out of this, damn marimo." He finally managed to stand up and get ready to fight. Approximately thirty guardians were there, with some effort they could defeat them and escape from that place.

Soon the Gwydion people starter to attack them with swords, as usual the young noble fought with his kicks even though he was wounded, on the other hand Zoro kept slashing the enemies only relying on his sixth sense. He fought them by their presence, it was something common in well-trained samurai. After fighting for some minutes, they defeated almost of them but if they stayed there probably more guardians were going to appear. One of the survivors sent a sign by throwing a silver and red firework on the sky, after seeing that Zoro grabbed Sanji's hand and rushed towards the lake, maybe the green haired boy still could remove the hex and the sacrifice made by the swordsman was not going to be in vain. If he recalled well the eye alone was not enough. "Eye for eye" that was the reason Zoro did that but it did not work as he thought, there should be something else he could offer without hurting himself any further.

"Tsk… they are a damn pain. We need to hurry up and finish our business here before more of those come." The samurai said as he kept running still holding firmly but carefully the young noble's hand.

"There is no need for you to lose any more! I am fine this way, all you have to stay away from me and you will live your life!" the blond stopped and pulled back his hand releasing it from the grip.

"A true man never steps back once he made a promise. I told you that I will remove your curse, and I am going to it no matter what." The swordsman turned around and stared him with resolution.

"I know that! But I do not want you to get hurt anymore! You have done enough than anyone in my whole life. I do not wish to see you suffer any more, Zoro." The young noble grabbed the collar of the shirt pulling him close and glaring at him angrily.

"And do you think that I will be happy leaving you alone?! Cannot you understand that you are important to me?!" And the samurai grabbed his collar as well. They were fighting in a moment like that, but they had to make it clear before they continued.

"So are you to me! That is why I cannot let you suffer like this!" After saying that both of them stared each other's eyes and stayed in silence for few moments.

As the minutes passed, the silence grew wider and only the sound of water was heard. At that time both realized that they had feelings for each other. Zoro's grip became softer and soon he found himself cupping Sanji's cheek gently, and slowly he started to near his face to the other's. The young noble knew what was happening so inchmeal he closed his eyes. Soon both of them had their eyes closed and by each second the distance was getting smaller until their lips met. It was a soft and chaste kiss, it was not their first time, although it was the first time after clarifying their feelings. It did not last long, because in few minutes there were heard strong multiple steps getting louder, it was the sign that guardians from Gwydion family had arrived. The samurai and the noble planned to escape but those people were faster than they thought.

Once they broke the kiss, they rushed towards the lake since it was only few meters away, soon the enemies started to throw arrows from few meters away. Even though the green haired boy managed to dodge almost all of them, one hit him, after all suddenly losing half of the sight was tough for this kind of situations. He received the strike on his left leg and immediately lost the sense of touch of it, the arrows had some kind of poison that affected the nervous system.

"Oi, are you fine?!" said the young noble to the swordsman who had failed to keep standing and fell on the ground. And more arrows came flying towards them. Few of them hit both of them making them lose the tact sense of many parts of their bodies.

"This is bad, at this rate they will kill us…!" the green haired boy said trying vainly to stand up, but the drug was too strong and the effect was not going away.

The poison was spreading on their whole body as the minutes passed the situation for Sanji and Zoro was just getting worse. At that rate they were really going to be killed by the Gwydion family and none of them did wish that. Sanji, with his only moving arm wrapped it around the swordsman's neck looking in his eyes. The young noble had decided what he wanted and stared the other's eyes with determination. The samurai got the message delivered by those eyes and let out a small sigh before smiling.

With the limited movements they could make, helping each other, slowly both of them rolled heading towards the lake which was a little far from them. They guardians from the Gwydion family kept attacking them, now throwing fire arrows. Somehow, with his left strength the green haired boy managed to fight them with his arm since he was unable to draw a sword due to the drug. While that, both of them kept turning until they reached the edge of the lake, the blond started to get wetting by the water of it.

"I do not ever regret this decision, Sanji." The samurai said with a smile looking at him. "Like this we will be able to stay together forever."

"That was a pretty cheesy line for your personality, Zoro." And a small laugh was accompanied with those words, after which the samurai laughed as well.

If they could, probably would get out of that situation and escape but maybe their destiny was that. Living a short life. Both of them closed their eyes and finally gave the last turn, which made them sunk deep in the water. While submerging in the lake they saw a dead body, they killed Lucia for helping them. At that moment Sanji's expression became angry and sad, his eyes were wide open. How could they kill their own people? That was just too much.

" _My dear son… so your destiny is the same as me…_ " a female resonated, there was no exact point from where those words came. " _Sanji, my precious son, I am deeply sorry for not being able to do anything for you but wait here for your arrive._ "

'Son..? Is his mother?' the swordsman thought while looking at the blond who seemed to be in a complete shock.

" _That is right, young boy, I am his mother… I would like to say but this is only a part of my soul that could not leave and stayed in this lake._ " The female spoke again, it seemed like she was able to hear their thoughts.

'Mo… mother?' Since the young noble never met his mom, he did not knew how her voice sounded but something inside him felt warm. It felt really warm. 'Do not apologise, mother!' Tears started to fall from his eyes, the blond never thought that he was going to meet her.

'How can we believe that you are his real mother? Do you have any prove?' the samurai did not believe that voice, who knows, it could be a trap of the enemy.

" _I do not possess any prove, I have become one with the soul of this lake and I cannot appear in my human form anymore. However, please believe me. I cannot do much but accomplish wishes with the rule you already know. I want you to live with your special person but if I grant you a wish of this era, probably you will not be happy._ " The voice now sounded sad, like it was really worried about them. Of course she was, after all she was his mother and wanted the best for her son.

It was true, if they wanted to live in that world, everything was going to be against them and the Gwydion family was going to chase them until the end of their life. At that time both of them thought that it was the right thing to wish for something else than living in that world where they could not be happy and had to run away each time so they could live. They thought of what they desired.

" _So that is what you want… the equivalent of this is more than two lives, but do not worry, Lucia and I will give up our souls._ " The voice, Jun, assured them but they did not seem to be against that agreement.

'What will happen to you if you do that?!' The young noble asked a bit desperate, he did not wish other people to suffer any more for his sake.

" _Do not worry, we are dead already. We will pay with our souls and you two with your life._ " Jun said assuring his son each time it was needed. " _Is there any opposing?_ "

'If I can be with this stupid cook, there is nothing for me to oppose.' Zoro thought while grinning at the blond who was unsure of the reason of it.

" _Then, with two lives and two souls, the wish of being reborn with your memories of this life in a distant world, meet and fall for each other again, will be granted. Rest in peace until you meet again luckless young boys_."

After that, Sanji closed his eyes and kissed the samurai who responded the kiss without hesitation and like that, they sank deeper and deeper in the lake.

* * *

Thank you for reading this chapter!

It took me a while to come up and write this chapeter. I was not unsure since it was really hard for me but finally finished it. And I would like to inform you that, the next chapeter is going to be the last one.

PS: Forgive the mistakes and typos.


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